My9Iron · Amateur Golf & Big Break
Ryder Epson Bio
The decorated Long Beach amateur’s path through college golf, two U.S. Amateur Four-Ball appearances, championship wins and the Grass League to Big Break x Good Good.
Quick answer: Ryder Epson is a competitive amateur golfer from Long Beach, California, who was selected for the filmed but unaired Big Break x Good Good season. The former Long Beach State player has competed twice in the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball with his brother Hunter and represents the Dallas Horsemen in the Grass League.
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Ryder Epson at a Glance
Ryder Epson and the Canceled Big Break Season
Epson was selected as one of 12 golfers for Big Break x Good Good, filmed at Horseshoe Bay Resort in Texas. Golf Channel presented him as a confident, quick-witted player who believed he could compete with anyone.
Golf Channel canceled the season on August 27, 2026, before any episodes aired, after the competition’s intended PGA Tour exemption could no longer be fulfilled. Epson’s selection remains part of his competitive history, but there is no televised result or elimination order to report. See My9Iron’s cancellation and cast page or Golf Channel’s announcement.
Golf Channel subsequently made its Ryder Epson player-profile upload private, so the unavailable video has been removed from this page.
A four-year Wilson High School golfer
Epson played four varsity seasons at Woodrow Wilson High School under coach Jeff Evans. Long Beach State’s official biography credits him with First-Team All-League recognition in each of those four seasons and a Gazette Player of the Week award.
Wilson’s golf archive also lists Epson as its champion in 2012–13 and 2013–14. The school calls those honors “WWWG Champions,” so they support describing him as a two-time Wilson golf champion without converting them into a different league or state title.
Ryder comes from a golf family. His father, Joe Epson, played college golf at UC Irvine, while his younger brother Hunter developed into a college and professional golfer. The brothers later became USGA championship partners and Grass League teammates.
Ryder Epson’s college golf career
Epson joined Long Beach State for the 2014–15 season and returned as a sophomore in 2015–16. The school listed him at 6 feet 2 inches and as a Consumer Affairs major. The surviving records establish two roster seasons but do not confirm that he graduated from Long Beach State.
At the 2015 Del Walker Intercollegiate at Virginia Country Club, Epson opened with a career-low 67 and followed with a 71. He entered the final round tied for second at two-under 138. A closing 78 moved him to a tie for 27th at six-over 216, so the record should not be shortened into a second-place finish.
One of his strongest completed college results came at the 2015 OGIO–UCSB Intercollegiate. Epson shot a second-round 68 and closed with a three-under 69 to finish tied for third.
In the Golf Channel interview, Epson also explained why his college career ended after two seasons. After making a 13 on the second hole of a round, he responded with four consecutive birdies. When an assistant coach told him he would be benched for the next event, Epson decided to leave the team. His account resolves the previously unexplained end of his Long Beach State roster record.
Two U.S. Amateur Four-Ball appearances
Ryder and Hunter Epson qualified for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball in 2019 and 2021, giving Ryder two appearances in a USGA national championship.
2019: Advancing to the Round of 16
At Bandon Dunes, the Epson brothers opened with a seven-under 64 at Old Macdonald. They completed stroke-play qualifying at 10-under 132 and were the only brother-brother team to advance to match play.
Their Round-of-32 match against Jack Kozlowski and Trey Rath required an extra hole. Ryder converted a putt of approximately 20 feet on the first playoff hole to complete the 19-hole victory and send the brothers into the Round of 16.
2021: Qualifying medalists
The brothers returned to the championship in 2021 after shooting an eight-under 64 at Rams Hill Golf Club. They earned qualifying medalist honors by one stroke and competed in the national championship at Chambers Bay.
Ryder Epson’s tournament victories
2019 Lompoc City Championship
Epson won the 2019 Lompoc City Championship at La Purisima Golf Course. He began the final round two strokes behind and closed with an even-par 72—the only par-or-better round of the weekend—to finish at five-over 149 and win by one.
2023 Yorba Linda City Championship
His most dramatic individual victory came at Black Gold Golf Club in 2023. Epson and Damon Krause completed regulation tied at one-under 143. With the course in near darkness, Epson holed an approximately 40-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole. Conditions were so dark that he could not clearly watch the ball fall into the cup.
2025 U.S. Mid-Amateur qualifying
Epson shot 68 at a 2025 U.S. Mid-Amateur qualifier at Hidden Valley Country Club in Reno. He earned first-alternate status behind Jack Barber and Daniel Wittlinger, the two players who secured places in the championship.
A California Scratch League championship
Grass League lists Virginia Country Club as Epson’s home club. In 2023, he was part of the undefeated Virginia team that won the California Scratch League Championship at Poppy Hills.
The championship lineup included Epson, Torey Edwards, Clay Seeber, Nick Badel, Mark Manwaring and Sean Meier, with Cass Traub serving as captain. The title was a team achievement rather than an individual victory. It also connected Epson with Edwards, who later partnered with him for the Dallas Horsemen.
Ryder and Hunter Epson in the Grass League
Epson joined the Grass League in 2024 and represents the Dallas Horsemen. The team competition is played on lighted par-3 golf and has allowed Ryder to partner with several recognizable players, including Brad Dalke, Sean Walsh, Torey Edwards, Michael Block and his brother Hunter.
Ryder and Hunter produced Ryder’s best listed Grass League result at the 2025 Summer Grind. They shot 19 under and finished tied for second. They followed with a tied-for-fifth finish at 18 under in the 2025 Grass League Championship.
In the standings reviewed in August 2026, Grass League listed Ryder 15th with 635.80 points and $5,000 in earnings. Those numbers are a dated snapshot and may change as additional events are played.
The official feature also shows the brothers’ competitive relationship away from Grass League. Ryder has caddied for Hunter in Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour events, although he joked that Hunter fired him after each one. Their father offered them the family house as motivation if either earned a PGA Tour start; Hunter has already made his, leaving Ryder joking that he is playing for the other half.
Ryder Epson’s Scottsdale garage-door business
Epson runs a business installing roll-up garage doors in Scottsdale, Arizona. His office sits across the street from Grass Clippings Rolling Hills, the home of the Grass League and his primary preparation site for Big Break.
That proximity lets him leave work and practice, sometimes earlier than planned. In preparation for the show, he increased both his gym work and range volume, describing sessions of four large buckets. The stable business also explains why he has never needed to turn professional despite his amateur results.
Is Ryder Epson a professional golfer?
Available official records identify Ryder as an amateur golfer. Grass League marks his profile with an amateur designation, and his recent competition history includes U.S. Amateur Four-Ball and U.S. Mid-Amateur qualifying.
Hunter Epson has pursued professional golf, which can create confusion when the brothers are discussed together. Ryder said he sometimes jokes about turning professional after an amateur victory, but his father and brother expect him back at work on Monday. He has never pursued a professional golf career, even though a PGA Tour start remains his central competitive goal.
Ryder Epson’s golf equipment
No complete, date-specific Ryder Epson equipment setup has been reliably documented. Tournament footage and social posts may show individual clubs, but the available evidence does not establish a full bag with verified models, lofts and shafts.
My9Iron therefore does not assign Ryder a current driver, irons, wedges, putter or golf ball without stronger dated evidence. In the Golf Channel feature, his family joked that his career declined after anchoring with a belly putter was banned and that he might try a broomstick putter. That is a historical preference and a joke about a possible change—not evidence of his present putter.
What makes Ryder Epson dangerous on Big Break?
Epson brings extensive match-play and team-golf experience. He has won a USGA championship match in extra holes, closed out an individual championship with a 40-foot playoff birdie and repeatedly partnered with Hunter in high-level four-ball competition.
Big Break rewards confidence and creativity under compressed pressure. Epson’s record shows both: he has performed in national amateur competition while building a reputation for an easygoing personality and strong belief in his game. He also has the freedom to play aggressively because his livelihood does not depend on advancing to the next tournament.